BOSTON — Bruins rookie forwards Tyler Seguin and Jordan Caron were scarcely used in the third period tonight in Boston’s 2-1 shootout loss to St. Louis at TD Garden.

However, head coach Claude Julien was quick to defuse any talk of them being disciplined in any way.

“We felt that these last two games were against big teams, high-tempo, and [there was] a lot going on. It seemed like it was a bit of a struggle for these guys at some point,” said Julien, who limited Seguin to two shifts and Caron to four in the third period. “So you’ve got to go with a little bit more experience, especially when you’re down by a goal. [Seguin’s] a young kid that’s learning and when it came time to the shootout, I even told him: ‘you’ve got an opportunity to make a difference here.’ And you can see his skill level is great.

“Certainly it’s not a negative thing. It was about making the right decision as a coach with some young guys that were, I guess, struggling a little bit to keep up with the pace.”

Seguin rewarded Julien for his decision in the shootout with Boston’s lone goal in the post-overtime spectacle. The first North American NHL back-to-back situation obviously took its toll on Boston’s two key kids. We’ll see how they respond this week when Boston plays at Pittsburgh Wednesday and Montreal back home Thursday.

Gotta disagree with your take on Julien’s handling of the youngsters, Pat. Caron is playing on the second line, and getting a ton of pt on the kill. Seguin is centering the third line on a very good team, as an 18 year old. These guys are 11 games into their professional career, and they’ll get more minutes as they earn them.

IMO, Julien’s strict system; Recchi’s fading capability[ still 200% effort] and Julien’s lack of confidence in young players is limiting the development, particularly of Seguin. Claude needs to turn them loose.

Very good call by Julien to limit their pt in the 3rd, the kids struggled tonight and were a little off yesterday against the Caps as well (although most of the team was for the first 40). Beautiful move in the shootout tonight, this kid’s a gem.